Page 10 of Cyn
“Figured it would make things interesting. You find anything yet?”
Joe all but rolled his eyes.“Like I said, I just got here. Beyond establishing that we both now know who, and what, the other is, we haven’t talked about anything.”
“She’ll have video footage of the gate.”
“And I’ll ask about that.”
“You get an ID on the body?”
“You’re no longer aCOP, Uncle. You know I can’t talk about an ongoing investigation.”
“Now you’re being petty.”
“I don’t like it when people keep things from me. Not even you.”
“Everybody has secrets, Joe.”
This time Joe did roll his eyes, though no one was there to observe the occurrence.“Goodbye, oh wise one.”
He was returning his phone to his pocket when Cyn stepped back into the room from a different door than the one she’d disappeared through five minutes earlier. And damn if she didn’t startle him.
She paused, then grinned. “Bathroom,” she said, pointing to the door she’d initially used. “And closet,” she said, pointing behind her. “They’re connected.”
He nodded and pushed off the door, gesturing for her to lead the way. When she walked by him, he caught a subtle scent of something earthy and floral, but it dissipated as she passed by. He fell into step behind her.
She’d changed into a cable knit sweater, a pair of those fuzzy boots women seemed to like, and fitted jeans. It wasn’t a bad view to follow.
“It’s quite a house,” he said, pulling his mind from her backside.
She waved a hand in an airy sort of gesture. “Family money.”
That explained how a professor could afford the mansion, but it did not explain why. “It’s a lot for one person, isn’t it?”
She glanced over her shoulder at him, her chin length hair swinging with the motion. “Yes, it’s deliciously over the top. I adore it,” she said with a laugh.
He wasn’t sure what to say to that so he fell back into silence as he followed her through a different series of hallways than the ones he’d come up. Taking a flight of stairs down, they walked right into the kitchen where Dan, the man who’d let him in earlier, was standing and staring at the oven.
“That my dinner?” Cyn asked. Dan spun at the sound of her voice with a scowl on his face. Then in an instant, it broke into a huge grin.
“You’re back are ye?” he said, coming around the island and engulfing Cyn in a huge hug. His accent was mostly American but had a hint of Irish in it.
“Of course I am. My mum says ‘hi’ by the way, and Daisy’s still not speaking to you over that pudding recipe. She wanted me to be sure to tell you that,” Cyn said. “Thank you, as always, for having the perfect thing for me when I got home last night. I needed it.”
Both their eyes traveled to Joe. As if her night had been his fault.
“Any chance I can get a coffee?” he asked.
Dan chuckled, and Cyn spun away saying, “I’ll get it.”
A timer dinged, and Dan took a dish out of the oven that looked like a casserole of some sort but smelled better than any casserole Joe had ever had. “I’ll set this to cool and leave you two to get acquainted,” Dan said, then ghosted faster than a man his size should.
“Cream? Sugar?” Cyn asked, sliding a cup in front of him. She had one of those fancy machines he usually only saw in the cafes that catered to drinks with names that took longer to order than to drink.
“Cream, if you have it,” he said.
Her eyes widened, but she turned and retrieved a pint from one of the local dairies out of her—no doubt custom—double-door refrigerator. She set the small glass container down in front of him before returning to the coffee machine to make herself a cup.
When she had her own mug in hand, she gestured to two of the barstools at the kitchen island.
